WHEN Georges Etienne Cartier, the subject of H this biography, entered the political arena, his native province of Lower Canada was on the verge of sedition. Carried away, like all the young men of his day, by the eloquence of that powerful tribune, Papineau, he one day found himself in open rebellion against the British crown, of which he was, in a few years, to be one of the most stalwart supporters. The contradiction, however, between Cartier's two antagonistic attitudes is more apparent than real. His opposition, which drifted into revolt, was not directed against the British sovereign, but against the party, an insignificant minority, who, having laid their hands on the government, used it for their special ends and profit, and denied to French Canadians all the privileges and rights of the British subject. But as soon as self-government was granted to Lower Canada, no more loyal upholder of the British constitution than Cartier was to be met in North America.

It is not our purpose to attempt a justification of the furious agitation which culminated in open battle at St. Denis and St. Charles. But is it not fair to ask whether the administrators of the day had not abused the patience of the people beyond the limits of endurance, when year after year they resisted the legitimate requests of the Canadians for constitutional government in fact as well as in name ? Since 1800 the discontented Canadians had been asked: "But have you not a most liberal constitution: why do you complain?" The fact of the matter is that the governor and the legislative council had concentrated all authority in their hands and constantly frustrated the will of the lower house. The representatives of the people were in the positions of persons craving water: they were offered an excellent glass, but it was empty. They had been since 1820 asking for the complete control of the provincial finances, and in 1837 Lord John Russell's resolutions placed ,it practically in the hands of the executive.

In no other section of the country did the feeling against the hated bureaucrats—the family compact of Lower Canada—run so high as along the Richelieu. The pretty villages, extending on both sides of the river from Sorel to Chambly, with fine churches raising their tall spires, and neat looking farm-houses, give one the impression of a rich and happy land, too happy to be a scene of bloody encounters. In those days, St. Ours, St. Charles, St. Marc, St. Antoine and Chambly were the seats of aristocratic French families, from whom the people took their direction in politics. With the advent of democracy and the progress of education among

the people, this has all been changed, and many of those influential families have also disappeared. But when Papineau, at the full height of his furious attacks against the government, determined to strike a great blow to show his power, it was at St. Charles that he convened the delegates of the six counties.

At St. Antoine, one of those hotbeds of rebellion, Cartier was born of parents who traced their genealogy to the family of Jacques Cartier, the discoverer of Canada. His ancestors had come to this country in 1759 and settled at Quebec, which they left in 1760 to build up a new home at St. Antoine. His grandfather and father were merchants. Cartier once stated that he should have followed their calling instead of studying law. To atavism he owed his taste and aptitude for business and his strong grasp of matters pertaining to trade and commerce.

When old enough to attend school he was sent to the Montreal College, then as now under the management of the Sulpicians, or les Messieurs de St. Sulpice as they were called in the old style. The process of his intellectual formation was not different from that of any French lad in the hands of the priests. This process is peculiar enough in itself and in its surprising results to be worth describing to persons not familiar with the customs prevailing in Quebec.

It must indeed seem strange and abnormal to our English-speaking citizens to sec British subjects of the twentieth century brought up and educated under rules laid down when Louis XIV reigned, and modified only in minor details later on to suit the times. The substantial education dispensed to the youth of Quebec is still almost wholly permeated with French notions of the seventeenth century. The craving for hero worship is gratified in the history of France, whose traditions of glory and honour form part of our national inheritance. In literature, Bossuet, Racine, Fénelon, and all the writers of the grand scheme are the models offered to the imitation and admiration of young French Canadians, who seldom come in contact with Shakespeare and Milton except in translated excerpts. Moreover, English is indifferently taught in the Quebec schools. For years it was viewed by many as the language of heresy and of the conqueror. Fortunately, as a counterpoise to this apparently anti-English education, there exists the all-powerful teaching of the Church, who claims for herself and for all powers submission and obedience. The first duty of the subject in civil and political order is subordination to the government which holds its rule from God: Omnis potestas a Deo. Under the beneficent ecclesiastical influence, social and religious asperities are worn out and smoothed down; and it is with a strong sense of sacred obligation that Catholics offer in their Church prayers for their separate brethren.

No more moral and severe tuition could be given, nor under closer watchfulness. The pupils of the Quebec colleges are daily reminded of their duties to God, their neighbours, and the state. Thanks to the clerical teaching with its strong conservative tendencies, the mind of the young French Canadian is shaped on the mould of monarchical ideas; with the effect of binding it to English institutions in preference to democratic systems of government. The natural consequence of this education did not escape Lord Elgin's penetrating observation. He attributed to it the loyalty of the French Canadian to Britain, and he has this in his mind when writing to Lord Grey in 1848: "Let them feel that their religion, their habits, are more considered here than in other portions of this vast continent; who will venture to say that the last hand which waves the British flag on American ground may not be that of a French Canadian?"

A century and a half of loyal devotion to the British crown, strongly exemplified during the American wars of 1775 and 1812, stands to prove the striking truth of Guizot's opinion, himself a Protestant, that the Catholic Church is a school of respect. Out of respect for the government springs submission to its command and control.

The influence of Papineau must have been overpowering, and the petty persecutions of the oligarchy of the Chateau St. Louis very exasperating, to have overcome temporarily in Cartier's soul the loyal sentiments which he had imbibed at St. Sulpice. The fact of the matter is that the rulers at Quebec seemed to have concentrated their efforts to hurt the feelings and pride of the French subjects. At every turn of their civil and political life they were made to feel that the governors and their friends considered them an inferior race, unfit to take a share in the government of the country. The work of the lower house at Quebec was rendered barren, the legislative council constantly nullifying its efforts. Even the military authorities in those days took sides with the oligarchy, and never failed to look down with scorn on the habitants. But, we may ask, was not the Canada Act of 1791 a great advance on previous imperial legislation? It undeniably was, but is it not also a fact that the best constitution may become an instrument of persecution and injustice in the hands of obtuse or wily men deprived of the sense of justice? Even Upper Canada had grievances under the Act of 1791, but the problem to be solved there was not so complex; it was free from questions of race and almost free from those of religion.

Is it to be wondered that the intelligent youth of the day rallied around Papineau, who then stood as the living symbol of the demand for justice of a down-trodden population? The oppression of the rulers must have been galling, for it arrayed against them level-headed and moderate men like La Fontaine, and even sweet-tempered, easy-going men like Morin. Cartier was drawn towards the patriots by his fiery temper and the strong conviction that he and his friends were under a ban in their own country. Moreover, was he not breathing the spirit of insubordination in the law firm of Maitre Edouard Rodier, the great tribune of the Montreal suburbs, and second only to Papineau as a convincing, blood-stirring orator? Under these strong influences he was only too well prepared to join Les Fils de la Libert6 when that society was organized in imitation of the American Sons of Liberty. He became their poet in spite of the muses, for he lacked the sacred fire. Still his lines, patriotism helping, were soul-inspiring, and the Fib de la Libert6 sang them to the top of their voices when parading the streets of [Montreal in search of their enemies of the Doric Club.

Our poet and law student was carried away with his friends; his fervour soon capped the climax, and when Colonel Gore marched on St. Denis to crush the incipient rebellion, Cartier shouldered a musket with the other raw recruits armed with shot-guns and scythes. It was a miracle that they repulsed the Waterloo veterans. A few days later his ardour and enthusiasm urged him on to the neighbouring parish of St. Charles, where Nelson met a terrible defeat at the hands of Colonel Wetherall. When more tranquil days brought Cartier to power, he was often taken to task for the part he had taken in the rebellion. His opponents were wont to represent him fighting in habitant garb with the blue bonnet—la tuque bleue —then worn by his countrymen. Cowardice was also hinted at, but it has been established beyond controversy that he behaved bravely under fire. At St. Charles he was entrusted by Nelson with a mission which required both pluck and nerve: namely, to cross the Richelieu under the enemy's fusillade to get supplies from St. Marc on the opposite shore.

Under the scathing fire of Wetherall, the peasantry scattered in every direction, and Cartier attempted to seek a refuge in the United States. It was late in the autumn; the cold, rainy weather of November and the bad roads rendered the young patriot's flight painful. He wandered through the forests, suffering from want of food and the inclemency of the season, and finally lost his way. Then the safest course seemed to him to retrace his steps and find some hiding place near home. He succeeded in reaching Varennes, where a farmer harboured him during the winter. It was reported at the time that he had perished in the woods, and Le Canadien, of Quebec, lamented the death of this young man full of genial qualities, to whom the future promised a brilliant career.

When spring returned it was considered safer for Cartier to abandon his retreat, and place the American frontier between himself and the police, who were scouring the country about Montreal in search of rebels. He reached Burlington, where he remained until Gosford's amnesty proclamation allowed him to return to Montreal, which he entered wholly free of the illusions under which he had lately lived, but not regretting the sacrifice he had made to the cause of freedom. He knew that liberty is often dearly bought, and that frequently it rises out of streams of blood.

If it were my purpose to attempt a justification of the insurrection of 1837, might not that outburst find extenuating circumstances in the fact that it was not committed through malice aforethought, but was the spontaneous movement of a people labouring under great provocation? The opening of the hostilities occurred as follows: on a certain day the habitants of St. Charles and St. Denis were told that warrants had been issued against their leaders, men whose life-long devotion to the popular cause had won the trust and gratitude of every Lower Canadian. These men were known to them as ardent patriots, animated by a boundless love for their country. It is not surprising then that, swayed by a natural indignation, they should have promptly resolved to protect Papineau and Nelson who were in their midst.

There was in this insurrection one of those chivalrous impulses impossible to suppress, which one is compelled to admire, although it is condemned and reproved by calm judgment. Therefore the French Canadians will ever piously treasure up the memory of those peasants, brave men though deluded, who, with a few muskets, scythes, and sticks, dared to engage in a fight with soldiers ranking with the best the world had seen. To the gratitude of posterity towards the men of 1837 has been added a large measure of admiration, and now it is widely admitted that this spontaneous rebellion hastened the advent of constitutional liberty, and secured for the whole race the coveted rights of British subjects so long witheld from them. A heavy cloud shrouded the horizon in those troublous times, but it was blown away with the smoke of battle, and there appeared the dawn of the better days which all Canada now enjoys.